The present invention relates to an animal trap. More particularly, the invention relates to an animal trap that is suited for destroying an animal, such as a mole, in its burrow, tunnel or run.
Moles can destroy a lawn or garden. While hunting for food such as insects or worms, moles can burrow tunnels beneath the surface, creating elaborate underground labyrinths that can ruin a lawn. Moles can get up to eight inches long. For example, the Eastern mole ranges in size from 5½ to 8 inches long and the Starnose mole measures from 4 to 5 inches long. People have tried many things to rid their lawn of moles including chemicals, gum, ground glass, noisemakers, Alka-Selter® and water to name a few.
Traps for destroying small animals, and especially moles, are well known in the art. Some of these traps are adapted to be placed inside the rodent's tunnel. One such conventional spring-loaded trap, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 882,755, includes a box-shaped housing to which a wire frame is mounted above a top wall of the housing. A coil spring is mounted on the wire frame, so that when the trap is tripped the coil spring biases the wire frame upward. A loop depends downwardly from the frame inside the box-shaped housing. As a rodent enters the trap, it sets a trigger that releases the wire frame causing it to move upwardly. Since the loop depends from the wire frame, as the wire frame moves upwardly, so does the loop, thus catching the rodent between the top wall of the box-shaped housing and the loop.
The animal trap disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, requires any soil that has been placed on top of the either the wire frame, or the loop depending from it, to be displaced upon the tripping of the trap. Therefore, if the soil on top of the box-shaped housing becomes packed down, for example because of rain, the wire frame can be hindered in its upward movement. This may keep the trap from fulfilling its function. Also, since the housing does not have a bottom wall, a rodent can simply dig downwardly in its run and avoid the trap altogether.
Of course, many other types of rodent traps, from pincer types to one way tunnels are also known. However, each of these has its own disadvantages. Many protrude from the ground making them hazardous to passersby. Some are not very stable and are prone to shifting in the ground. The known animal traps also must work through the soil to trap or kill the animal. For example, pincer-type traps must cut through the soil on top of the animal's burrow in order to catch the animal. The trap disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 882,755 must also displace soil before the animal can be trapped. Since soil must be displaced for the trap to serve its intended function, any spring that is used in the trap must have a high tension to store the amount of potential energy needed to move the portion of the trap, such as the pincers or the frame, through the soil. A high-tensioned spring requires a greater force to trip, and accordingly smaller animal, such as the Starnose mole, may not trip the known traps.
In addition to trapping moles, gardeners and others may also want to trap other small animals that can damage their lawn or garden. For example, squirrels, chipmunks, moles, shrews and the like can also damage a garden.
Accordingly, a need exists for an animal trap that overcomes the aforementioned difficulties and others. It would be advantageous to provide an animal trap where the moving parts would not have to travel through soil in order to trip the trap. It would be advantageous to mount all working parts of a trap inside a housing. It would be also advantageous to provide a floor for the trap.